Final Quarter feature: Nevin Harrison qualifies for Paris Olympics in Sacramento
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) – In 2021, Nevin Harrison was just 19 years old when she became an Olympic champion.
“I wouldn’t say it was an expectation to win gold, but it was ultimately the goal,” said Harrison, a champion in canoe sprint. “I very much have the mindset of, ‘if I didn’t win, I did it wrong.'”
She did it right, having already won a world championship in the sport two years earlier at the age of 17.
“So I was a track-and-field girl through and through for a lot of my life. But the second I got on the water in a C-1, it was the most challenging thing I had ever done. And I was intrigued by it,” said Harrison. “I was so intrigued by how bad I was. And I was determined to master the craft of paddling.”
She says it took awhile, but her rise was meteoric.
She started competing at the age of 12. By 15, she was competing internationally. Now, at 21, Nevin Harrison is a two-time Olympian.
“Yeah, it’s odd. This last year has been full of a lot of challenges. So there were definitely moments of questioning if I will actually make it to a second games,” she said. “It’s definitely more stressful than Tokyo, knowing that I have these standards to live up to and knowing that I have these expectations I put on myself.
“But I’m just gonna go in, give it my best and remember why I started.”
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